Ronda Rousey Reportedly Gave WWE “Hard Out” Departure Date

Ronda Rousey reportedly recently gave WWE officials a “hard out” date for her departure from the company, according to the Wrestling Observer Radio.

Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that this was the reason for why Shayna Baszler had turned on Rousey during their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match at Saturday’s Money in the Bank 2023 event. Meltzer reported that Rousey giving a “hard date” for the end of her time in WWE caused WWE officials to push up the start for their planned feud between Baszler and Rousey.

Meltzer reported that while the exact end date for Rousey is currently not known, it is believed to be around the time of this year’s SummerSlam event, either the event itself or a bit afterwards.

“It kept getting delayed and then Ronda got hurt and the thing was – and I don’t know the date, and it might be SummerSlam, it might be a little bit after – the deal is that Ronda has a hard out. She gave a date, ‘This is my last date.’ Cause I remember talking to somebody there and it’s like, ‘I know they’re going to do this, and I guess, make the big match for WrestleMania.’ And it’s like, ‘No, her hard out is…’ – they didn’t give me the date but it’s long before WrestleMania.”

Meltzer also reported that Rousey had always wanted to do a singles feud with Baszler in WWE due to Baszler being the person responsible for her wrestling career. Meltzer reported that this goal of doing a singles feud together was the reason why Rousey wanted to be paired up with Baszler as a tag team and have a run in WWE’s Women’s Tag Team titles division first.

In regards to WWE’s original plans for Rousey, Meltzer reported that WWE officials had originally planned for Rousey and Baszler to have a long reign as Women’s Tag Team Champions that would have featured hints and teases of them eventually splitting and feuding against each other. Those plans reportedly were dropped after Rousey gave her “hard out” departure date.

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com